Allentown Man Pleads Guilty To Writing Bad Checks

An Allentown man pleaded guilty yesterday to 17 counts of theft by deception for writing checks on closed bank accounts or accounts that had insufficient funds.

Alan Kirschen wrote checks in Lehigh County for more than $2,000 in merchandise and services, bringing the charge to a third-degree felony because of the total value of the property. Kirschen also was charged with writing bad checks in Northampton County where the total was much higher because Kirschen purchased a car using a bad account.

Assistant District Attorney Douglas Reichley said the prosecution won't oppose probation for Kirschen, who will be sentenced Nov. 29 by Lehigh County Judge James N. Diefenderfer.

The Lehigh County sentence is to be run consecutive to the sentence of 23 months' probation Kirschen received in Northampton County.

Kirschen wrote the checks between October 1989 and January 1991.

His lawyer, Edward Eidelman, attributed Kirschen's crimes to his lapse from psychiatric treatment and medication. During a four- to five-month period when Kirschen stopped treatment and medications, he "didn't function as he normally would," the lawyer said.

Kirschen, described as an intelligent man who holds a master's degree, didn't exhibit "reasonable" behavior, Eidelman said. Although he had a car, Kirschen bought another one and would purchase 15 pairs of shoes and 20 sweaters that he didn't need, his lawyer said.

Eidelman gave the judge a letter from the psychiatrist who has been treating Kirschen and said the circumstances surrounding the writing of bad checks "appears consistent with the loss of judgment and impulsiveness of a manic state."

He advised against incarceration because of Kirschen's fragile mental state and suggested continued mandatory outpatient treatment as a condition of probation.

While under treatment, Kirschen didn't write any bad checks.

If given probation, Kirschen of W. Cedar Street, will be able to begin paying restitution to victims, Eidelman said. The car Kirschen bought has been repossessed, and some of the unworn shoes are still in their boxes and may be returned to stores, he told the judge.

Kirschen, who had operated Professional Resume Service in Allentown, had been sued last year in Lehigh County Court by the state attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The lawsuit alleged that he accepted money from customers, didn't finish work and didn't make refunds.

The suit is still open, and no date has been set for trial, according to Deputy Attorney General Michael F. Butler.

Butler said yesterday that the bureau has received about 25 complaints from Professional Resume customers in Lehigh, Northampton and Berks counties and from some out-of-staters.